【古文英译】邹忌讽齐王纳谏
Zou Ji Satirized The King of Qi For Accepting AdviceThe Warring of Qin Dynasty by Liu Xiang Full Version
Zou Ji was more than eight feet tall, heavyset and beautiful. One morning he dressed and put on his hat, looked in the mirror, and said to his wife: "Compared with Xu Gong in the north of the city, which one is more beautiful?" His wife said, "You are beautiful. What can Xu Gong compare with you?" Xu Gong in the north of the city was a handsome man in the State of Qi. Zou Ji did not believe that he was more beautiful than Xu Gong, so he asked his concubine, "Who is more beautiful than Xu Gong?" My concubine said: Xu Gong can not compare with you. The next day, a visitor came to visit from outside, and Zou Ji sat chatting with him. Zou Ji asked the guest: Who is more beautiful, me or Xu Gong? The guest said: Xu Gong is not as beautiful as you. The next day, Xu Gong arrived. Zou Ji looked at him carefully and thought he was not as beautiful as Xu Gong. Then look at yourself in the mirror, and feel far less than others. At night, as he lay in bed thinking about it, he said, "My wife thinks I am beautiful because she likes me; I thought I was beautiful because I was afraid of me. The reason why the guests think I am beautiful is that there are things they want to ask me.
So Zou Ji went to court to pay homage to King Wei and said, "I do know that I am not as beautiful as Xu Gong." But my wife favors me, my concubine fears me, and my guests want something from me, so they all think I'm more beautiful than Xu Gong. In today's State of Qi, the land is a thousand miles around, there are 120 cities, the concubines in the palace and the attendants around, there is no one who does not favor the king, the ministers in the court, there is no one who does not fear you, and the people in the country do not ask for something from the King. From this point of view, the king must be deeply deceived.
The king of Qi Wei said: Good! Then an order was issued: All ministers, officials, and people, who could criticize my faults to my face, would receive a high reward; Those who can write to me and remonstrate with me have a moderate reward; The man who can criticize and discuss my faults in public, and can reach my ears, will be rewarded. As soon as the decree was issued, many officials came to give advice, and the court was as noisy as the market; After a few months, there were occasional remonstrations; After a year, even if you wanted to say, there is nothing to remonstrate.
When Yan, Zhao, Han, Wei and other states heard of this incident, they all came to the State of Qi to court the king. This is the improvement of internal affairs, can defeat the enemy without the use of troops.
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